Hello. Make sure that you are getting a good night's sleep. Sleep is SO important when you have Fibromyalgia. I use Benadryl, it is the same ingredient that is found in many over the counter sleep aids. A Fibromyalgia therapist recommended sleeping on a egg crate foam mattress topper & using a body pillow when sleeping on my sides. It is a very comfortable way to sleep. Avoiding caffeine, sugar, alcohol & white flour products helps too. These things overstimulate your nervous system & your adrenal glands, ending up causing more fatigue. Rest whenever you can. Don't overtax yourself trying to get things done. If something can wait to be done, let it wait & take s rest. Pace yourself. These are just a few things that have helped me. I hope you find them helpful. Take care.

Thanks for the advice! I'm always looking for new ways to improve my sleep. I'll definitely look into the mattress topper and body pillow.

My sleep got much better when I started taking a good, multi strain, probiotic. I also use melatonin at times too. I agree with Tracy to stay away from triggers too.

Hello, and buy Fibro for Dummies! it's our go-to book by far. Just consider it like this: You wake up feeling like you already did a full hard-core all-body workout. So we start where others "end" after, say, an Olympic marathon type event. So consider it's always as if you're in "healing" mode.

I can't confirm or deny anything Tracy said, but if you find that certain dietary habits do cause a flare, then do avoid them. Some of us are fine with caffeeine, some arenb't, etc.

I myself simply avoid processed food. I wasn't raised on it, and th epreservatives are freaky to me, mostly b/c I was premed, and I know what those weird terms really *mean*. No thank you!

I do tend to avoid white flour, btw, but that's b/c I wasn't raised with it, either. SO that's just a lifelong habit, as is my being a vegetarian. Didn't prevent fibro. My best preventives are stress management, hydration, sleep/rest, exercise (gentle), et cetera. The usual commonsense stuff!

I love my mattress topper, but my hubby is my body pillow;-P

Hi! I just joined this group this week too actually. I am 32, just diagnosed this year with fibro. I have been dealing with it for about a year now. One of the gals in this group recommended Malic Acid (which you can buy on amazon) for fatigue. I did some research on it and when combined with Magnesium (which I also take), some studies have shown that it actually improves/increases energy with people who have fibro. Anyhow, I just started taking it, so we'll see what happens. I am not sure what vitamins you are on, or if you take any, but maybe do some research online about magnesium and Malic Acid and see if you want to start incorporating that into your regimen. I also suffer from really bad fatigue. Even when I take my dog out for a walk for 5 minutes, I am flat out exausted and I feel like nobody understands - I used to be a runner and ran 30 miles a week, so 5 minutes of walking shouldn't be a problem, but nowadays it SUCKS. Anyways, sorry for rambling. I hope this helps! Feel free to reach out to me if you ever want to chat :).

Jessica

I too avoid processed foods. I too like to cuddle my husband but if he rolls on me it is painful.

Thanks everyone for sharing! It's great to get thoughts and opinions from others who understand exactly how terrible this illness is. I'm very glad I decided to join this group!

About 6 months ago I came across an article studying the effect of SAM-e on fibromyalgia. According to the research reported, 400mg/day in combination with a standard fibro med (Lyrica, Savella, etc.) was reported to have the greatest benefit. I've definitely noticed an improvement in my mood and energy since I added SAM-e to the Savella I've been taking for a couple of years. Most telling is that when I ran out and went without for a couple of days, I immediately had worse days.

One of the most frustrating things I've noticed is that each thing that is helpful (meds, better sleep, supplements, diet, massage, whatever) only makes things maybe 5 or 10% better. Sometimes it feels like that's not enough improvement to bother with, but they do add up!